Coldwater, Bronson pick up wins

Saturday

Oct 6, 2012 at 10:30 AM

By Gary Bakersports@thedailyreporter.comBRANCH COUNTY — Both Coldwater and Bronson were on the road on Friday night, where both teams picked up league wins.Coldwater at Battle Creek CentralThe Cardinals got their first win on the season, topping Battle Creek Central 35-12, behind a three touchdown night from Cooper Murphy.The Bearcats got on board in the opening quarter with a three-yard score by Phil Robinson to take a 6-0 lead after the two-point conversion failed.Coldwater scored in the second quarter on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Shawn Reincke (on a Cooper Murphy run). The point after was good by Blaze Watson, making it a 7-6 game. Murphy hit paydirt late in the opening half, Murphy scored from 20 yards out to make it a 14-6 game at the half.In the third, Murphy scored from five yards out to make it a 21-6 game. The Bearcats cut the deficit on a 42 yard pass from Anfernee Boykins to Joe Bowser to make it a 21-12 game.Bryant Garrett answered for the Cardinals with a 78-yard run, giving the Cardinals a 27-12 lead after three quarters. Coldwater blew the game open with a 40-yard run from Murphy to close the scoring on the night. The story for the night was the defense, as the Cardinals came to play this week."Finally, finally," said Coldwater coach Jeff Schorfhaar. "We needed a game like this just to get some confidence. The defense played really well."Cooper Murphy rushed 22 times for 177 yards, Bryant Garrett rushed 14 times for 147 yards and Zach DeMeester had six carries for 13 yards. Ryan Hadley completed a pass for 16 yards.Defensively, Chris VandenHout led with 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Austin Siegel had eight tackles; Zach DeMeester and Skylar Reincke had seven tackles each; Bryant Garrett had six tackles and an interception; and Tylar Rankin had five tackles.The win makes Coldwater 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the SMAC East. Battle Creek Central remains winless at 0-7 overall and 0-5 in the SMAC East.Coldwater hosts SMAC East leader Harper Creek next Friday in the final home game of the season for the Cardinals.Bronson at CentrevilleThe Vikings took a 42-6 win on Friday at Centreville to improve to 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in SJV play.Nick Mitchell scored three touchdowns on the night on runs of eight, 13 and three yards. Hayden Jergens scored twice on runs of one yard each; and Leo Mora scored on a 38-yard run in the fourth quarter. After a 22-point outburst in the first quarter, the Vikings scored 14 in the second quarter, putting the game well out of reach of the Bulldogs."It was a really nice night," said Bronson coach Jeff Gallup. "We received the ball and marched mythodically down the field. In those first three drives, the line did a great job."Bronson had a big night on the ground, rushing 48 times for 414 yards. Jergens was 2 of 2 for 20 yards passing to Kyle Roberts.Defensively, Jacob Gallup anchored the Bronson defense with 12 tackles. Dakota Frohriep had five tackles, Kegan Ayres had four and Nick Mitchell had three. The Viking defense held Centreville to 116 yards rushing and the Bulldogs were 9 of 20 passing for 125 yards.Bronson hosts Stockbridge for homecoming next Friday night, as the Vikings look to add on to their recent success. Two more wins, and the Vikings could very well likely back themselves into a playoff spot."We've really put something together in the last three weeks," said Gallup.